Automatic stop for automobiles.



No. 855,711. PATENTBD JUNE 4, 1907.

' c. 0. LAMBERT.

AUTOMATIC STOP FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED P3127. 1900.

19w swoon bot 003% Charles 0.1Lmmbert v Q Ho t/Magi UBTITE D STATES CHARLES O. LAMBERT, OF BQIHDGEPORJT, COXNECTlCUT, ASSTGNOR, BY

AUTOMATIC STOP FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J 111:. 4, 1907.

A li ation filed February 27,1900. Serial Re- 6,728.

Tn 171 whom it may calmer/1 Be it known that l. CHARLES O. lrumnu'r, a citizen of the United States. and a resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Stops tor Automobiles, of which the. following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in means for automaticallv stopping power ttritefrfihietes' should driver or operator he suddenly thrown out or otherwise unseated and consequently nnahle to stop the machine.

The style ol vehicle for which the invention has heen specially designed is automo hiles and it is equally applicable to any of the various makes of machines whether drivenel ctrically, by steam, or otherwise. It will also be obvious that while, as above stated, t particularly dcsirahle on the class of vehicles named. its use need not. he limited to such since it may also he employed to great advantage on other devices.

it is the object. of my invention to provide reliahle and practical mechanism whereby the power of an automobile may he. instantaneously cut oil and the vehicle. stopped should the driver become suddenly dislodged by reason of collision or otherwise, thereby preventing the machine lrom running away forms no part; of my invention. Fig. 2,-

shows a detail view .r a slightly modified l'orm of construction of my invention, and Fig. 3. illustrates a further manner of putting my invention into etl'ect. the same heing illustrated with special reference to twin operating levers and electrically driven devices.

As ahove stated the propelling medium of this type of vehicle vary materially, some. being driven by steam, others by clectri 'ity, compressed air, etc. The operating medium.- however, of most all the American types of machines comprise one or more levers which are arranged adjacent; to the seat occupied by the driver. thelower end of said levers hcitig attached to a rock shalt or other means cl connect ions with the valves or switches con.- trolling the power. and for the purpose of clearness l have omitted from the drawings any illustrations of said power mechanism or its connections with the controlling levers and will desc ihe my invention as it would hc applied. in practice.

Referring to the characters of reference marked upon the drawings A indicator the. body of an automobile. whichis mounted upon a familiar type of running gear B B ot which C rcpr sents the. rear axle. and to which the power is usually applied.

l) indicates the operating or controlling lever which is pivoted at l) and l'rom which point further connections with the power mechanism of the machine in practice are, made. This lever in some. instances and as illustrated in Fig. 1 is intended to he drawn backward to start the machine and thrown forward as indicated in full lines to stop it. The order of movement of this lever is reversed in Figs. 2 and 3. My invention as applied consists in automatically operating this lever to cut oil' the power as desired by the action of the spring when the weight upon the seat is released and to permit of itbeing operated to throw on the power only when the seat is occupied.

In Fig. 1 E represents an auxiliary arm pivoted at F which has an inclined surface G adjacent to said pivotal point, its upper e);-

tremity ll being designed to engage the hack ol' the controlling lever in a manner to throw the same orward at the desired time.

l. indicates a. cushion or seat which in practice is suitably hinged at the back or at one end. A vertically disposed rod J is nor-- For the ahove reason mally held against the under side of this seat by means of a spring K in a manner to retain the seat in its normal raised position which is shown in Fig. 1. I connect to this rod a lever I; which is pivoted at I, and as shown said lever is operated through the me dium of the spring K before mentioned. This lever further contains a roll M which is designed to engage the inclined surface G of the auxiliary arm E before mentioned, in a manner to force the same forward and likewise the lever I). From this construction it will be seen that when the pressure upon the seat released the spring K is permitted to act, thus throwing the forward end of the lever .liinto engagement and operating the. lever l) in a manner to cut oil the power.

In Fig. 1 as shown my invention not only serves to cut oil the power but apply a brake, this is done by simply attaching one end of a link to the lever L, before mentioned, the opposite end being connected to an arm of a bell crank pivoted to a stud P. Said other arm of this hell crank being connected by a rod Q with a band or member as shown partly encircling the brake drum Q and suitably semired or anchored, all as conventionally indicated, as showing in elfect a wrap-up or self tightening brake band. It will thus be apparent that when the lever L is drawn up to the position shown in full lines the brake is applied and when dropped down to the position shown in dotted lines it is released and it will be seen that even when the brake is applied by a. light spring, in view of the nature of the brake shown, the momentum of the vehicle will tend to immediately tighten it as soon as the braking surfaces are caused to engage, and will thus bring the vehicle to a stand-still without. the application of any great force to the brake levers. In the case of some styles of brake on automobiles it is known that very considerable force is needed even to materially retard the vehicle, and to effect such force with an automatic device might require such powerful and heavy spring and other mechanism as to make the device totally impracticable.

In Fig. 2 my invention, as above stated, is slightly modified and in that instance the rod J contains a rack and the spring for operating the same is applied direct. \Yithin the rack is fitted a. toothed arm It of the lever L the outer arm of which is provided with a strap S, it being obvious that when the seat is down as shown in the drawing the lever D is free to be thrown forward for the purpose of starting the machine and that it. is automatically withdrawn by the action of the spring when the pressure is released.

In Fig. 3 the rod J is extended with an electrical switch plug T insnlatedly applied, it being obvious that said plug is forced down in between the contacts :1: and y, thus forming a contact through which the electrical energy passes. A further connection of levers is illustrated in this figure for the purpose of showing a convenient manner in which thc invention may be made to operate two levers instead of one as in the other instances. As will be seen the link S is connected to an arm II of which Y and \l' indicates additional arms to which straps S are applied, it being apparent that as the arm L is drawn in the connections serve to draw the levers to a vertical position, thus cutting off the power from the vehicle. i

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatit may be necessary to slightly alter the details of construction of my invention to properly apply it to the various types of machines and consequently I do not wish to be limited in the matter of these details, and as my invention is susceptible of various embodiments. it. is to be understood that it is not limited to the exact construction herein shown and described, but

What. I claim as my inven ion and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with the controlling lever, of a. spring actuated scat, connections thereof whereby said controlling lever is reversed by relieving the weight upon the seat.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with the operating lever of an automobile, of a spring actuated seat, a mov able rod connected therewith, means for reversin' said operating lever by the upward movement of said rod and seat. I

3. In an automobile, the combination of a, movable part subject to the weight of the occupant, a device movable into predetermined position to ell'ect the control of power of the vehicle, connections whereby said device is returned to a. cut-oil or zero position upon the removal of the weight of the occupant.

4. In an automobile, the combination of a movable seat subject to the weight. of the occnpant, a device movable into predetermined positions to effect the control of the power of the vehicle, connections whereby said power controlling device is automatically moved, upon llk" removal of the weight of the occupant.

5. In an automobile, a movable part subject to the weight of the occupant, a device movable to effect the control of power or speed, intermediate connections whereby said device cannot be moved from its zero or cut-off position when the vehicle is unoccupied.

6. In an automobile, a movable partsubject to the weight of the occupant, a controlling device consisting of a substantially vertical lever movable longitudinally of the "ehiclc into predetermined positions for reguiatr. .'/the application of power, intermediate actions including a spring and. loclting r lever, all substantially as and for the ..pose describol.

7. in an automatic stopping device for antomobiles, the 'ombination with the. operating lever, of a movable seat a spring for normally retaining said seat in an elevated position, a depending rod operatively connected to said spring and seat, belt c *ank lever eonnections between said rod and operating lever whereby the position of the latter is reversed by the action of said spring when the pressure on said seat is relieved.

S. in an automatic stopping device for vehicles, the combination with the sta ting and stopping levers, ot a seat, means for normally retaining t he same in an elevated position, an intermediate leve connections between said seat and intermediate lever. and means for operating the starting and stopping levers from said eoi'meetions and seat, substantially as described.

t). The combination in a stopping device for automt'ihiles comprisii'ig connections with the power controlling levers. whereby the same may be operated when the seat of the vehicle is occupied. which coi'nprises a lever L, connections between said lever and the controlling lever whereby the latter is operated, in ans for normally holding said lever I, out. of engagement with the controlling levers, connections with the scat wherein, said parts are operated, substantially scribed.

10. In an automobile, automatic controlling means including a movable part", spring actuated mechanism and connections acting upon a plurality of cont rolling levers or devices whereby upon the, application oi" weight to the movable part the ctmtrolling levers are free to be operated, and upon the removal of the weight the levers or devices are returned to their zero or initial pos tion, as and for the purpose described.

11. .The combination in a stepping device for automobiles, of a movableseat, means for normally retaining the same in an elevated position, :1 depending rod attached thereto, a lever connected with said rod, straps bc tween said leve and the controlling levers whereby the latter are operated by the disengagement of the scat.

12. The combination in a stopping device for automobiles the same comprising a movable seat, a spring for normally retaining the same in an elevated position, connections thereof with an intermediate lever whereby the same is swung upon its pivot, and an auxiliary lever with connections whereby the controlling leveris reversed by the oper tion of said intermediate lever.

13. in an automobile, a movable part sub- 'm i 3t movable to etiectf the control of power or speed, a sell-tighten ng or wrap-up brake and connections, intermediate spring operated connections operable upon the removal of the weight of the occupant, whereby the controlling device is locked in zer or cut-otl' position, or returned to its zero or oll' position, and the brake connections moved to a position permitting the engaging brake surfaces to contact and ctr-operate to tighten the brak and ell ect. the stopping of the vehicle.

14. in an automobile, a controlling means including a wrap-up or sell-tightening brake, connections to move the braking surfaces out; of and into contact with each other, a movable part, subject; to the weight of the occupant and interimdiate connections including a lightspring, whereby upon the release of the weight of the occupant the b 'ake eonneetions are released and permit the contacting of the engaging brake surfaces permitting the selt operation of the brake and consequent retarding of the vehicles and 'an electrical switch including a movable switch member subject to operz'ition b) m ans ol' the allirementioned movable part.

15. in an automatic stopping device for vehicles, the combination of aspring actuated seat having :1 depending rod, abell crank lever cotmected with and operated by said post, connections from said hell cank lever to the controlling levers whereby the latter are operated to sto the machine when the seat is unoccupied, su stantiaily as shown and described.

16. An automatic stopping device for Vehicles the same comprising a spring actuated scat having a. depending post. a rack upon said post, a bell crank lever hearing 21 segment to engage said rack, connections from said bell crank lever to the controlling levers wh reby the latter are operated by the removal of the weight from the seat, substan tially as shown and described.

'17. The combination with a seatot a vehicle, of a spring actuated rod depending from, said seat, a pivoted lever connected with said rod, an auxiliary lever operated by said pivoted lever, controlling levers ada )ted to be engaged and ope ated by said auxiiiary lever and connections from the pivoted lever to the vehicle brake whereby the. latter is appli3d, substantially as shown and described.

18. in vehicle provided with a motor and a source of power, the combination of a mo 'able seat, of a lever, cut oil devices actuated thereby and a spring adapted to actuate said lever whereby said seat is raised and eonnnuni -ation broken between the source of power and the motor.

It). in an automobile, a contact through which electric energy passes for the propulject. to the weight of the occupant, a device sion of the vehicle, alnovable switch member CHARLES O. LAMBERT.

Signed at Bridge 3014;, Faiflield county,

(I. M. NEwAL-m, Emu-um h. Nicnoiisox.

Connecticut, this 22d day of February A. D. :o 

